World book day!

[ps1991]

All these children dressed up on tv and fb for world book day look lovely and happy, but AIBU to think shop bought costumes, especially standard princess costumes are a lazy choice?

Lazy arse right here! And disorganised too. I had to get Amazon Prime delivery. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think there needs to be be a whole new topic called "AIBAT?" Blooper

TheCountessofFitzdotterel
so what's your solution? Cancelling everything because it might be hard for someone? No more WBD, no more Mother's Day at school, no more Father's Day at school, no more Christmas..?

Dressing up is not mandatory. At worst wear your own clothes.

I made a costume last year and I was very proud of it 😁 I've bought one this year. I'm not a huge fan of shop bought outfits but quite frankly it's one day, does it matter. I had a good idea for a homemade one too but I'm badly organised this year. I was baffled at how 80% of the supermarket outfits seemed to be Disney Princess outfits though or characters I wouldn't automatically associate with books.

Not only did my seven year old wear a shop bought costume, he wore the same one as last year. Minus the glasses and lightning bolt scar, added freckles. Couldn’t persuade him to take his toy rat as ‘I’m Ron in the sixth book.’

Mind you, he has worn this costume nearly to death. My kids love dressing up so we have lots to choose from that are linked to things they love. DS1 was going to be a Jedi in an adapted shepherd costume until 5 minutes before we left the house, when he suddenly changed his mind.

His favourite book is his fucking atlas. Two kids and two working parents; I’m not inclined to whip up an Indonesian national costume in my vast amounts of free time. He likes Harry Potter, his mates like Harry Potter. Job done.

as long as they both read Harry Potter books, can't see the issue.

Another lazy one over here! DS didn't even want to dress up so he went in normal clothes carrying a bucket with some dinosaurs chucked in. Harry and his bucketful of dinosaurs, done! Other DS loves the very hungry caterpillar and we already had a caterpillar onesie so we put that on him.
Spend money on a shop bought costume. Spend hours making a costume. Throw on something you already on. Who cares. You do what you want to do.

Last year my son declared what he wanted to be - I had no idea how to make it but searched on line found an idea adapted it, modified it and spent hours making something I was really proud of and he loved. Then the little bugger throw up at school the day before and missed WBD.
This year I went for shop brought!

My DD went as a princess because her favourite book is a collection of traditional tales about princesses. I also make costumes if she wants something you can’t buy in shops and if I have time but buying all the materials almost always ends up being more expensive than a shop bought costume.

What if the family doesn’t have the budget to buy a costume and the kid goes in the one costume he/she has? What if the child doesn’t want to dress up at all? Who gives a shit as long as the kids get to read a book at least once a year?

Thanks for the entertainment. Every year without fail there’s a judgy-pants parent moaning about world book day.

My solutions are

1. Emphasise the optionality. You say it's not mandatory but kids tend to take things literally and none of the communications from our school have said anything to imply you have a choice.
2. Fewer dressing up days. If it was once a year it would be fine but at our place this school year we have had Roald Dahl Day, dress like a computer game character for Internet safety day, dress as an Anglo Saxon for Anglo Saxon Day. Over the last few years there has also been dress as a number for maths day (it wasn't exactly that, I forget the details, but something very similar), dress as a rock star for Times Table Rock Stars, dress as your favourite sportsperson for this, dress as a superhero for that, wear something spotty for Children In Need....

I would like more of a cost benefit analysis each time bearing in mind that while some kids love it, others don't, or it puts financial strain on already struggling families, stigmatises those who can't participate due to ASD, and so on. Fun is good but it's not fun for everyone.

1. Judgy parents on Mumsnet to keep their mouths shut about what other people do.

YABU. Back under the bridge you go.

Mine are mid /late teens now so I have dodged this one but it was a topic of conversation in the office today especially around the expense/waste element of buying an outfit which probably won't get worn again. I have suggested maybe at the next School Fair, why not have a WBD stall and sell the outfits to raise funds? School gets money, parents get cheap outfit for next WBD (a lot of charecters seem to be popular every year ) and it is environmentally friendly.

Love the idea that I have suggested cancelling Christmas BTW. That's what's known as a straw man

For several years my ds went in their normal clothes as horrid henry, and yes it was their favourite book!

My daughters wonderful school declared that all children must come in home made outfits as dalmations. Marvellous. Except I have two sodding kids. And about as much enthusiasm to spend 12 hours colouring spots in with sharpies as I do watching paint dry. In between the wine, tshirts and 9000000 sharpies I went through it would have been fucking easier to buy one.

Those who make them...have you bought the material or did you weave it yourself?

So lazy just to go to the shop and buy material to make a costume

Our school went in pyjamas even the teachers

Can't sew. Not a fan of costumes. We do go to the library every week and choose books though.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel
as some families cannot afford Christmas, you might as well when you suggest to cancel WBD because families can't afford it either. Be consistent.

@checkingforballons I hope you sourced the thread for the fabric from home-grown organic cotton plants and/or your own flock of rare-breed sheep. Otherwise you're just lazy and might as well give up on books and stick with Disney DVDs

fabric from home-grown organic cotton plants and/or your own flock of rare-breed sheep.

But of course! I even sing lullabies to my sheep 3 times a day, feed them organic food AND tuck them into bed every night. I mean..doesn’t everyone?

If your kid’s only going to wear it once, it’s a waste of money IF you can make it cheaper, but not everything can be made cheaply.

Our school doesn’t do dressing up for world book day, but did dressing up as knights/kings/queens for a castle topic in YR. I cut up a (well washed) purple dog blanket and used tinfoil for a crown. The kids had a variety of shop bought/homemade botch jobs, and they all looked very cute.

But it's not always a case of spend money on a shop bought costume Vs spend time making one. If you don't have cupboards full of old clothes and other materials that you can make into a costume, then you have to spend lots of money on materials.

About 12 years ago in made a medieval costume for DD. It was wonderful, but cost me over £20 for all the stuff and trimmings I needed. A cheap nylon Princess costume would have been probably less than a tenner then.

A parent could spend 5 hours hand crafting a costume, or 5 minutes buying one and the rest of that time interacting with the child, or maybe even reading with them.

Which do you think the child would benefit most from?

Disorganisedmum, I didn't suggest cancelling book day either